A deputy collector from the Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Wednesday insisted that the magnetic lifters recovered in a warehouse in Cavite did contain an estimated P6.8 billion worth of shabu as shown by x-ray images, but BOC Commissioner Isidro Lapeña did not take action on the matter.

In August, PDEA claimed that P6.8 billion worth of shabu was unloaded from four lifting equipment at a warehouse in General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite. PDEA said the lifters came into the country with the shipment that yielded P4.3 billion worth of shabu at the Manila International Container Port three days earlier.

PDEA raided the warehouse in Barangay F. Reyes after a caretaker informed authorities about the lifters that arrived on June 14. The lifters had reportedly been emptied by the time PDEA operatives got to the warehouse.

No residue of shabu had been found on the lifters but PDEA said K-9 units detected traces of the illegal drug.

Lapeña told the House inquiry on the matter that the magnetic lifters tested negative for dangerous drugs.

Duterte said PDEA's claim was "pure speculation" and no shabu was found in the magnetic lifters. —Jamil Santos/KG, GMA News

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said mandatory drug testing for Senate and House of Representatives aspirants would violate the Constitution.

Doing so would add another qualification not stated in the Constitution, the Malacañang spokesman said.

"The same principle applies to local candidates as it also adds to the qualifications imposed by law. Voluntary drug testing is a favorable process," Panelo said in the statement.

Under the Constitution, senatorial candidates should be a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, at least 35 years old on the day of the election, able to read and write, a registered voter and a resident of the Philippines for not less than two years immediately preceding the day of the election.

After over a month, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra admitted no one has snapped up the P500,000 reward offered for information which will lead to the capture of fugitive suspected drug lord Peter Lim.

“I’m not dismayed. He can’t go on hiding forever. Lilitaw at mahuhuli rin yan (He will have to surface and he will be captured),” the secretary said.

Acting Presiding Judge Gina Bibat-Palamos of the Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 65 has already issued an arrest warrant against Lim on August 14 and, then, a hold departure order (HDO) on August 17 which would prevent him from leaving the country.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) offered the P500,000 reward on Sept. 14 due to elusiveness of Lim.

“Either magaling magtago or takot ang mga tao sa kanya (It’s either Lim is good at hiding or people are just afraid of him,” the DOJ chief noted.

On August 10, the DOJ filed against Lim before the Makati RTC two counts of the nonbailable offense of conspiracy to commit illegal drug trade in violation of Section 26(b) in relation to Section 5, Article II of Republic Act 9165, the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Aside from Lim, those who have been named as his co-accused are self-confessed drug lord Rolan “Kerwin” Espinosa, Espinosa’s associate Marcelo Adroco, and Ruel Malindangan.

Both Espinosa and Adorco are in government custody, while, Malindangan is at large and also the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the Makati RTC.

Aside from the two charges, on July 25, state prosecutors filed charges against Espinosa, Adorco, and Malindagan, arrested alleged drug supplier Lovely Impal, and convicted drug lord Peter Co after probable cause was found by the DOJ to indict them based on the complaint of the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG).

The charges filed on July 25 are two counts of conspiracy to commit illegal drug trade at the Manila RTC and one other count of the same violation at the Makati RTC.

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